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Rat King of Temeschwar

Two Rats.jpg
Stories of a "dark power" beneath Temeschwar city have persisted for centuries.

Introduction

During the Spring Equinox the Minister of Historical Research, Watt of Lambrook, commissioned Octavia of Stream's Source Spire to compile a history of the Rat King of Temeschwar. The Urizen researcher made a trip to the city, and set about trying to find out as much as possible. A preliminary investigation into the rodent problems besetting the city, commonly associated with the so-called "Rat King" had already been carried out by the Unfettered Mind and where possible Octavia avoided repeating what was uncovered by the Imperial magicians.

The Guild

There are two Rat Kings in Temeschwar. The first is the guild of that name, made up of people who make their living in the filth of the city. They trace their history very convincingly back to the earliest days of Temeschwar as a settlement, and there is some evidence that their guild was ultimately formed from a fraternity of excavators who dug the first sewers beneath the then-Varushkan vale once it became clear steps would be needed to deal with the waste of so many people living in close proximity. Their fortunes have risen and fallen, and are very much on the ascendant at the moment, but even when the city has been on its lowest ebbs they have remained cheerfully collecting buckets of waste, hunting rats, and expanding the sewers.

There is a lot of speculation that this guild is associated in some fashion with the other Rat King - the shadowy creature that allegedly lurks in the depths beneath the city - but there is nothing concrete to tie them to it. I asked them directly, and they were very guarded. The only thing they would say to me is that when you are in the hunting ground of a wolf, you either learn to live with the wolf, or it eats you. This reflects what I would describe as a notably Varushkan attitude among that guild, a reflection of the old roots of that particular professional organisation.

The Beast

I will not dwell on recent history. The events that began in early 386YE are a matter of public record. I was not able to find any suggestion that anything similar had happened in Temeschwar before, certainly not on that scale. Rats are found wherever there are humans or orcs, and nowhere are they found in greater profusion than they are in the cities of the League. It is said one is never more than a stone's throw from a rat in the cities of the League, but more realistically one is never more than a sewer grating away from a whole swarm of the creatures.

From the days the first merchant-boyars came to power in Temeschwar, right back to the time of Ratibor, there were stories that something dwelled in the dark cracks of Temeschwar. The territory was part of Varushka before it was part of the League - and for that matter it was part of Varushka for longer than it has been part of the newer nation. There is a mostly forgotten legend that when the settlement that would grow into the great city of Temeschwar built its first walls, something dark slipped out of the woods of the Vardstein Vale and nestled unseen in the cellars and basements of the buildings here. Likely, this is a reference to the Rat King, although what form it took then when the city was so much smaller, I could not venture to say.

There are some semi-historical stories that speak of "curses" that could easily be looked at as the influence of the Rat King. In the time of Boyar Cherekovich (who ruled the city with an iron fist between 80BE and 74BE), Thule forces threatened Vargat and Metri. The city was about to be swallowed by a predictably terrible winter, and the spectre of famine hovered over the people within their walls. The Thule for their part were well provisioned with food and supplies stolen from Wintermark in their march down through Skarsind. Apparently Cherekovich secured the services of a band of cabalists who laid an awful curse on the entire territory. As the first snows began to fall, thousands of rats emerged to devour a quarter of everything edible in the city - and to befoul and consume a solid half of all the supplies carried by the Thule. Disease struck the orc warriors, and a counterattack from Wintermark severed their supply lines. While hunger gnawed at the bellies of the folk of Temeschwar, the orcs were absolutely decimated by starvation and a phantom sickness that apparently caused "bloody sores" on their bodies and caused many to die in their sleep choking on their blood. When Spring came, the garrison of Temeschwar easily defeated the surviving orcs, killing most and pressing the few with any vestige of remaining strength into service in the mines of Metri and Locul.

Interestingly, a record from a physick who examined the bodies of the dead orcs still survives in the possession of the Guild of the Green Flower. Marianna Vavuschka wrote that the "sores" covering the bodies of the dead orcs could easily be mistaken for nasty bites. In some cases, the emaciated bodies were covered in so many "sores" it looked almost as if they had been eaten alive. Those who had died in their sleep had frozen expressions of abject terror that the otherwise stoic healer noted as "quite disturbing". Examination of the throat and stomach of some of these corpses found "lesions" that looked not entirely unlike claw marks. Marianna never comes out and says it directly but it seems that some of the symptoms of this sickness are similar to those a body might display if they had been attacked by murderous rats.

Regardless of what may or may not have happened, this story ends with Boyar Cherekovich paying the unnamed cabalists very well indeed and thanking them for their service.

Stormwater drain.jpg
There is a maze beneath Temeschwar, and it is widely believed that something dark and terrible broods deep beneath the city streets.

False Death

Another story that I found quite persistent dates from the early years after the death of Empress Britta, during the time when the vyig were on the rise in the northern League in particular. According to this story, the skeletal remains of a human-like being were uncovered in an underground area of Temeschwar, pierced by a magical spear. Some of the stories suggest that there were Highborn scholars involved in this discovery, while others say that the Printers' Guild - everyone's favourite bete noir at that time - were somehow connected to the discovery. Regardless the story claims that this skeleton was killed by vyig assassins with a weapon forged by the volodny "Shadowsmith" specifically for the purpose.

There is some evidence "Shadowsmith" did indeed have a lair in Temeschwar, and that the vyig believed that the creature they killed with his assistance was the "sovereign of Temeschwar". In actual fact, it's clear that this was not the case. Most likely it was a servant or agent of the sovereign, or someone who was claiming a connection to an inhuman force to inspire fear in enemies and underlings.

The vyig continued to prosper, apparently with the patronage of the volodny in Temeschwar at least, until they were decisively torn to pieces by Imperial champions. Perhaps the aid of the volodny is not as potent as it was in the time of Alderei the Fair, but it could be that the volodny simply threw them to the wolves because it was done with them.

The Unfettered Mind investigation of the rat plague in Summer 386YE were able to confirm that Shadowsmith paid for his temerity in making a weapon to harm the Rat King. Exploring some of the old tunnels, they came across a richly appointed apartment deep beneath the city. The Clear Lens of the Eternal River revealed that this was the place "Where the volodny Shadowsmith was devoured by the King of Rats." This divination result - secured as it is with reliable Day magic - proved to be the first and most convincing proof of the existence of the King of Rats.

The Cult of King Rat

One last matter of interest concerns rumours of a "cult" dedicated to the dark power of the city. These stories go back to pre-Imperial times, but don't actually persist for long after Temeschwar helps found the League and joins the Empire. According to these scandalous tales, there was a cabal of Temeschwari who "honoured" the sovereign each Autumn, venturing deep beneath the city in a pilgrimage to a certain place where they would speak to the creature and make offering to it. A few stories claim these offerings took the form of murderous sacrifices, but this is a common calumny aimed at those who deal with sovereigns that is by no means universal. More stories suggest that the gifts handed over were items of value to form a part of the "hoard" atop which the sovereign sat. A symbolic sacrifice of the wealth of Temeschwar, perhaps, in return for which the cabalists benefitted from the creature's patronage.

This "cult" apparently disappeared from the stories of Temeschwar during the reign of Empress Teleri. According to lurid tales of the time, a low-key secret war took place in the shadows of Temeschwar between the wealthy cabalists and a band of plucky priests. It's challenging to dig through these accounts to try and extract any fragments of truth - whatever facts there may have been have been buried beneath nearly three centuries of embroidery and artifice.

It seems that one of the Temeschwari merchant-princes visiting Anvil - Tobias Ligoto von Temeschwar - used a curse that resulted in the near-death of the well liked Highborn inquisitor Miriam of Zephaniah's Lament. Once the curse was placed, Miriam suffered terrible nightmares of being stalked by unseen killers, and her health rapidly deteriorated. It was only the intervention of a coven of Dawnish Winter magicians that was able to end the curse before it sapped the last of her health. It was not lost on the magistrates that Miriam was due to call Tobias to inquisition to answer to accusations of consorting with dark powers during the Summer Solstice summit where the curse was placed.

Tobias denied all charges, and before the case against him could be concluded he vanished. His disappearance sparked a manhunt, but he was never found. Instead, the signs that his corruption was shared by several wealthy Temeschwari came to light, and prompted a secret investigation by Vigilant League citizens that ultimately lead to vicious fighting in the streets of Temeschwar. The virtuous priests, and their allied bravos and magicians, were ultimately victorious. The League played down the scandal, and the matter was mostly forgotten.

It is my surmise that the disappearance of Tobias Ligoto and the death of his fellow idolators marked the end of any active "cult" dedicated to King Rat in Temeschwar, but it is very likely that individuals aware of the creature have continued to make bargains with it and represent its interest in a low-key fashion ever since.

The Nature of King Rat

The creature is elusive; ironic for something that seems to be able to send swarms of rats to devour its enemies alive. As near as I am able to work out, it certainly seems to be a sovereign as the Varushkans define them - a potent supernatural creature that is bound to a specific area. It offers boons in return for gifts of wealth. It seems to view Temeschwar as its "territory" but without human agency it seems to be fairly slow to take action. When it does act it does so decisively - not entirely unlike the people of Temeschwar themselves. It appears to have abilities to influence rats and rat-like monsters, and may even be some kind of diffuse "spirit" like the bodiless Night Below that inhabits vessels rather than having a physical form of its own.

I can't really venture to suggest what it wants, beyond the fact that it clearly hates being stolen from. Where some sovereigns are actively malevolent, the Rat King seems to be much more passive, content to dwell beneath Temeschwar until something in the city above attracts its attention. The fact it is as old as the city itself is cause for concern - its impossible for me to guess how much the foundations of Temeschwar rest on this enigmatic supernatural horror.

Further Reading

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